1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a communication system installed in and on a vehicle to communicate to pedestrians or drivers of other vehicles. More specifically this invention relates to a communication system installed in and on a vehicle to communicate information concerning the operation of the vehicle or to communicate information concerning conditions the drivers of other vehicles will encounter. The invention also relates to a communication system installed in and on a vehicle to communicate various other types of information to other drivers and pedestrians such as commercial messages, safety messages and good cheer messages.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In many countries there is an increasing number of automobiles and other types of motor vehicles, such as trucks, vans and delivery vehicles that are crowded onto increasingly crowded roadways. There are basically two types of situations encountered by modern vehicles, first there is the high speed travel encountered on toll roads, freeways or interstate highways and second, there is the congested, crowded travel encountered mainly in cities and suburban areas. In either situation, it is becoming more and more important to increase the safety of travel to improve the quality of travel for all travelers.
Because of the high-speed travel encountered in the first situation and the congested and crowded travel encountered in the second situation it is important that as much information as possible concerning operation of a vehicle be communicated to other vehicles. In addition, it is important that as much information as possible be communicated to following vehicles concerning conditions the following vehicles will encounter. This information must be communicated quickly and easily and be clear and concise.
There is a need to enhance public safety by communicating safety messages or warning messages to others quickly and effectively. For example, police cars may need to communicate messages such as "STAY IN YOUR CAR", or "PULL OVER". An ambulance may need to communicate messages to others concerning safety and dangerous situations.
There is a need to enhance commercial messages in an unobtrusive method, including being able to send an advertising message including a logo.
The standard vehicle communication devices are well known in the art and include signals that indicate what the vehicle driver is doing or is going to do, such as braking signals, turning signals, and car-in-reverse signals. There are other signals such as hazard signals that indicate that there is an unsafe condition that is being encountered. Some of these signals occur without a separate action of the driver, such as the brake signals come on whenever the driver steps on the brake pedal and the car-in-reverse signals come on whenever the driver places the car in reverse. Others signals require a separate action of the driver, such as moving the turn signal lever or by pressing a hazard signal lever or button.
Various systems for automobile-to-automobile communication have been proposed. Generally, these involve the signaling of preselected messages from one vehicle to another in response to the manual operation of a switch to select the message to be communicated. These systems typically do not interface with the standard vehicle signaling devices. Other simple communicating devices include fixed signals with appropriate messages that are displayed somewhere on the vehicle. Some of the proposed methods include messages that are pre-programmable to be displayed at the rear of the vehicle. However, one of the problems in existing systems is that when these fixed signals are displayed there is a potential for confusing signals to be sent. There can be conflicting signals sent by the communications system to the drivers of other vehicles when the automatic signals are displayed, such as break lights or turn signals. For example, the driver of a vehicle may be displaying a fixed sign such as "SAFE TO PASS ON RIGHT", when an emergency braking situation occurs. The driver presses the break pedal and does not have time to remove the displayed fixed sign. This situation clearly has the potential to confuse a following driver and may cause an accident.
The existing systems, as well as proposed systems, do not have the capability to be reprogrammed by the user of the vehicle.
Therefore, what is needed is a communication system that increases the amount of information that is communicated to other drivers, avoid confusing signals being communicated to the other drivers and be rapidly and easily reprogrammed with new messages selectable by the user.